She was a member of the "Société des dames charitables de la cité de Québec" in 1834, a group devoted to the care of orphan children. They acquired a house in the city of Quebec at the corner of des Glacis and Richelieu, and, by 1842, reported that they had provided care for over 1500 children. The facility employed a bilingual teacher. In 1849, the orphanage was transferred to the Sisters of Charity. It is very tempting to think that this must have been the orphanage where Marion Danson grew up. The facility on des Glacis was the source of two nuns and a number of children who moved into the new St. Brigid's Asylum in 1849 — and one of the leaders of that institution was Anna Maria Bradley, a first cousin of Marion Danson.

On the 1871 census, she is in the province of Quebec, district 106 (Montreal West), sub-division C, district 6, a widow age 58, with children Agustus age 21, Bella age 21, and Mary age 19, with two Irish servants.

(The Société apparently was created in 1834 by the fusion of an earlier society, Dames charitables de la paroisse de St.-Roch, and another group called the Société de l'éducation.)